Across the last year, home cooking has evolved a great deal. Part of that experience has been influenced by the desire to grill our favorite veggies and meats – without the hassle of setting up a bulky, old-fashioned grill.
This is where smokeless indoor grills prove their worth – often serving as a more convenient and modern option than their traditional outdoor cousins. With little to no smoke during a grilling session, you can easily make some fantastic burgers and steaks – all without stepping out of your kitchen or needing extra space.
They also maintain the flavor of the food, have a compact size, are easy to use and clean, and have an automatic shutoff function for some of us more absent-minded cooks!
Here is a list of some of the best smokeless indoor grills in 2022:
Best Overall: Ninja AG301 Foodi Indoor Electric Grill
This grill produces low to no smoke while cooking. If you want to use some wood chips for an extra-smoky flavor, you can do so with the built-in smoker box.
It’s the first indoor electric grill with an open design for even cooking. Unlike other indoor grills, it cooks food faster and more evenly than a traditional outdoor grill. The secret to this superior performance is the patented ‘Ninja Star’ system that rotates in four directions and distributes heat evenly across the surface of your food. This efficient heating makes your grilling experience that extra bit easier and more consistent.
The Ninja Foodie has a powerful 900-watt heating element, and the grill heats up in only 6 minutes to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
The grill has a grease management system that channels the fat away from the food, allowing you to repurpose grease while cutting down on your dish’s fat content.
Also, this grill is simple and easy to use. Its design includes a large, circular grill with an LED display at the center and five different settings – grill, broil, sear, bake, and warm – to match any of your needs.
This grill’s cleaning system features a self-cleaning, non-stick coating that makes cleanup quick and easy. With the push of a button, the non-stick coating will release food from the contact surface so you can easily wipe it clean. The nonstick ceramic-coated grill grate, crisper basket, and cooking pot are also dishwasher-safe.
The grill will fit nicely on your countertop without taking up too much space. It can cook up to eight burgers or three steaks at once.
Runner-up: Techwood Indoor Smokeless Grill
This grill has virtually no smoke, except for minute amounts according to buyers we’ve talked to.
This griddle uses infrared technology and distributes heat evenly without producing any odor or smoke. The 1500 W heating element heats up evenly across the surface and is ideal for steaks and chargrilled vegetables. It also gives sear marks on the meat that you’re cooking quicker than most other grills – making it a great choice for steaks.
This grill has a temperature range from 220°F to 450°F.
This grill prevents the cooked food from being greasy by channeling oil and fat into a metal tray. This can be detached and cleaned in the sink or a dishwasher.
It has a sleek design that has a digital LED control panel which is simple to use. The grill offers 4 types of cooking methods: Grill, Bake, Broil, Roast.
This grill comes with a non-stick grill plate and a removable non-stick drip tray that makes cleaning easier, and it works on any type of stovetop surface, including induction cooktops. It provides a way to clean your grill without using any toxic chemicals – making it safe for you and your family to use it.
You can cook up to 8 burgers or four steaks at the same time. The whole unit only weighs about 15-20 pounds, and has handles so you can carry it with ease.
Other features
- Filtered combustion system that fits right into your existing chimney
- Low emission levels which are much safer than other traditional wood stoves
- Comes with an ash collector for an easy cleanup
Best with Lid: Power XL Smokeless Grill
This is a grill that emits no smoke. User reviews say that this grill is completely smokeless and can be used in apartments – it even features a smoke fan that sucks in any minute smoke particles and filters them out.
This grill utilizes the convection and infrared grilling process where the heat is distributed evenly on the surface of the food. This results in juicy, evenly-heated meats that don’t take very long to sear up.
The grill can reach temperatures of 450°F quickly and evenly – ideal for all grilling applications.
With a removable and washable grease tray, this electric grill offers a simple, easy solution to grease management.
The grill is a versatile and easy-to-use product. It’s also very easy to assemble. It has a one-touch control panel and also has an LED temperature control system that allows you to cook at the desired temperature without worrying about flare-ups or over-cooking.
The grill has an easy-to-clean porcelain-enameled finish that provides excellent protection from corrosion, stains, and rust. This device makes cleaning the grease from your grill easier. All you need to do is just empty the drip tray and then wipe down the outside with a damp cloth. It can also be cleaned in a dishwasher or washed by hand.
The grill is the perfect size for an average family of 4-6 people. It has a cooking area of 450 sq inches. You can grill up to 6 burgers or 4 large steaks, or even barbeque 8 pieces of chicken on it.
Other Features
- High-quality stainless steel material
- A bigger cooking surface
- Double burner
- Comes in a variety of colors to complement your kitchen
Best for Beginners: Hamilton Beach Electric Indoor Searing Grill
This grill produces no smoke. It can be used for long periods without any traces of smoke emerging while grilling, even at high temperatures.
This product has been designed to cook and sear food more quickly. It can be used both with and without an external heat source. It has a patented wave-cooking technology that circulates all the cooking elements in a 360-degree radius so there are no hot spots on your meat, which means less unwanted charring and blackening.
The grill has an adjustable thermostat. The thermostat ranges from 150°F to 450°F and the heat level is indicated by light with red, orange, and green indicators.
It has the capacity of cooking up to 6 burgers or 4 steaks with the built-in grease tray that catches most of the fat and oil. This can be very convenient and allows you to filter grease out of your cooking so that your food is grease-free.
This grill is a fry pan type grill that sears food quickly and cooks it evenly. It’s fairly simple to use for beginners or experienced cooks. It has six different cooking functions that are available at the touch of a button: searing, grilling, basting, roasting, and warming.
This grill has a 12 inch non-stick coated surface, which makes it hassle-free to clean, and is dishwasher safe. The removable dishwasher-safe drip tray catches oil drippings so you don’t have to worry about leaving a mess on your countertop. Its grates are easy to clean and it has removable grids that go into the dishwasher.
Other Features
- Optimum heating
- Wide grilling surface
- 24-inch attached power chord
Best for Family: George Foreman Indoor/Outdoor Electric Grill
This grill has been designed such that there is never any smoke coming out which makes it safe for use in apartments, condos, or condos with balconies. Its multi-purpose functionality ensures that it can even be used outdoors.
One of the most innovative features of this indoor/outdoor grill is its patented ‘Floating Heat System’, which is designed to cook food more like an outdoor grill, with heat distributed evenly over a large surface area. This is achieved by two powerful electric heating elements placed on either side of the non-stick cooking plates.
This grill has a temperature range of 160°F to 500°F, but you need to be careful not to overcook your food. The grill is slower than other grills with the same temperature range because the wattage is lower.
The grease management system is a unique and helpful feature that prevents grease from dripping on the burner and causing a fire. The system also separates liquid from solids with the help of a metal tray that collects excess oil and stores it in a container for later use or disposal.
This grill comes with a variety of options that include six preset cooking settings, three power levels, and an indicator light that indicates when the cooking is complete.
The drip tray on the dishwasher is safe for dishwashing and can also be hand-washed with a mild soap. Before you clean your grill, make sure to use either a grill brush, sponge, or an all-purpose dishcloth.
The George Foreman grill is larger than all the grills on this list and boasts 240 square inches across a circular cooking surface that lets you make up to 15 servings of hamburgers – this makes it ideal for larger families.
- This grill has a removable stand that can let you use the grill outdoors as well.
- It also comes with a dome-shaped grill lid that covers its large surface area.
Best Infrared: Tenergy Redigrill Smokeless Infrared Grill
Tenergy’s Redigrill uses infrared technology for heating and it does produce a bit of smoke. The company claims that it’s 80% less than other indoor grills. They also state that grilling fatty meat like pork and lamb produces a bit of smoke – although the levels are still manageable indoors within a ventilated kitchen.
The grill surface is a generous 200 square inches which allow you to cook up to 8 hamburgers at the same time. There’s also enough space for two full-size ribeye steaks.
The grill works by having two panes, one on top of each other, with infrared heat being transferred from one pane to the other through air-filled chambers that are sealed off from outside air.
This grill can go up to 446 degrees Fahrenheit and heats up within 6 minutes. While this might not be ideal for searing or broiling, but still does well with lighter meat and vegetables.
This grill has a removable griddle top and it can be easy to filter out the grease with its well-designed grease trap. It comes with a grease tray for catching drippings, a food-safe cover for storage, and an aluminum drip tray for collecting unwanted liquids.
With this improved indoor grill, you can easily serve up a big breakfast or lunch without leaving your kitchen. It cooks 8 times faster than an outdoor grill and because it uses infrared heat, it’s ready to cook with as soon as you plug it in. However, it has no temperature control and only works in on, off, and warming modes.
The grill comes with a metal drip tray and a slotted non-stick cooking tray. They are dishwasher safe making cleanup seamless and not strenuous. The parts are all dishwasher friendly which is ideal for cleaning up.
By meeting North American ETL standards, Tenergy’s infrared grills are certified as safe. It comes with a built-in overheat protection system, which turns it off automatically if the temperature reaches unsafe levels.
Other Features
- Built-in overheat protection
- Lightweight, portable and durable
- Fast heat up and use
- 1-year manufacturer warranty
Best for searing: Gotham Steel Indoor Smokeless Grill
The Gotham Steel grill boasts non-stick titanium and copper cooking surface with no PTFE, PFOA, or PFOS, according to the manufacturer.
The manufacturer recommends adding a cup of water to the drip pan to prevent smoke, however, we found this grill is not entirely smokeless and does produce a little smoke. The grill is crimped onto the heating element, so users have found that it does produce some smoke with repeated use.
The grill provides an even distribution of the heat by circulating hot air diffuser plates that move from side to side and up and down. This way food is evenly cooked on all surfaces all the time. It can grill up to six burgers at a time and is great for small get-togethers. The grill’s surface can withstand temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit, recommended temperature for searing proteins.
Residue from burning grease is considerably reduced with the use of this grill’s ceramic grease catcher – a high-quality component that doesn’t stain much over time.
The grill is straightforward to use. It has a user-friendly temperature dial that operates in four settings: warm, low, medium, and high heat.
This grill has a non-stick surface which helps in making sure cleanup is hassle-free. It even features adjustable flavorizer bars that are removable and can be cleaned in the dishwasher for easy maintenance.
Other Features
- Cool-touch handles
- Nonstick titanium
- Copper and diamond sparkle look coating
- Heatproof frame
- A built-in fan that extracts smoke
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Electric Indoor Grills Completely Smokeless?
When it comes to indoor electric grills, there is a common misconception that they are completely smokeless. Indoor grills do not burn charcoal so they don’t emit as much smoke as outdoor grills. However, there is some smoke created by the oil and fat in the food, or grease or food particles that drip into the electric burner.
Do Smokeless Grills Taste Different?
While smokeless grills offer mostly similar results as outdoor grills, they often can’t replicate their extra-high heat and smoke-infused flavors. According to Cook’s Illustrated smokeless grilled food “generally lacked deep charring and proper grill flavor.”
Why Does My Smokeless Grill Smoke?
As mentioned earlier, smokeless grills can produce smoke at times. Three kinds of smoke that can come from an electric indoor grill:
- Smoke from falling grease
- Smoke from the fat in the meat dripping on the heating element
- Smoke that comes from food particles dropping onto the heating element
Do you have to put water in the Smokeless Grill?
Yes, you need to put water in a smokeless grill. A water tray should be filled with 1 or 1.5 cups of water, The smokeless technology relies on the Water Tray being filled with water.
Wrapping Up
As seen above, smokeless grills offer a handy alternative to home cooks looking for that classic grilled flavor at home. With several excellent options to choose from, we hope that we’ve helped make your family dinners that extra bit more delicious!